Run the following to create a Nano Server virtual hard drive. The –Containers parameter indicates that the container package will be installed, and the –Compute parameter takes care of the Hyper-V package. Hyper-V is only required if Hyper-V containers will be created.

When completed, create a virtual machine from the NanoContainer.vhdx file. This virtual machine will be running the Nano Server OS, with optional packages.

Configure Nested Virtualization

If the container host itself will be running on a Hyper-V virtual machine, and will also be hosting Hyper-V Containers, nested virtualization needs to be enabled. This can be completed with the following PowerShell command.

Configure Virtual Processors

If the container host itself will be running on a Hyper-V virtual machine, and will also be hosting Hyper-V Containers, the virtual machine will require at least two processors. This can be configured through the settings of the virtual machine, or with the following PowerShell script.

PS C:\> Set-VMProcessor –VMName <VM Name> -Count 2

Enable Hyper-V Role

If Hyper-V Containers will be deployed, the Hyper-V role needs to be enabled on the container host. If the container host is a virtual machine, ensure that nested virtualization has been enabled. The Hyper-V role can be installed on Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2016 Core using the following PowerShell command.

PS C:\> Install-WindowsFeature hyper-v

Create Virtual Switch

Each container needs to be attached to a virtual switch in order to communicate over a network. A virtual switch is created with the New-VMSwitch command. Containers support a virtual switch with type External or NAT.

This example creates a virtual switch with the name “Virtual Switch”, a type of NAT, and Nat Subnet of 172.16.0.0/12.

Configure NAT

In addition to creating a virtual switch, if the switch type is NAT, a NAT object needs to be created. This is completed using the New-NetNat command. This example creates a NAT object, with the name ContainerNat, and an address prefix that matches the NAT subnet assigned to the container switch.

Finally, if the container host is running inside of a Hyper-V virtual machine, MAC spoofing must be enable. This allows each container to receive an IP Address. To enable MAC address spoofing, run the following command on the Hyper-V host. The VMName property will be the name of the container host.

Install OS Images

An OS image is used as the base to any Windows Server or Hyper-V container. The image is used to deploy a container, which can then be modified, and captured into a new container image. OS images have been created with both Windows Server Core and Nano Server as the underlying operating system.

Container OS images can be found and installed using the ContainerProvider PowerShell module. Before using this module, it needs to be installed. The following commands can be used to install the module.

Issue: Save-ContainerImage and Install-ContainerImage cmdlets fail to work with a WindowsServerCore container image, from a remote PowerShell session.Workaround: Logon to the machine using Remote Desktop and use Save-ContainerImage cmdlet directly.

Applications fuel innovation in the cloud and mobile era. Containers, and the ecosystem that is developing around them, will empower software developers to create the next generation of applications experiences, while IT Pros can use containers to provide standardized environments for their development, QA, and production teams, creating an infrastructure that is simpler to update and maintain.

What’s New in Nano Server. Nano Server now supports the DNS Server and IIS server roles, as well as MPIO, VMM, SCOM, DSC push mode, DCB, Windows Server Installer, and the WMI provider for Windows Update. Its Recovery Console supports editing and repairing the network configuration. A Windows PowerShell module is now available to simplify building Nano Server images.

Windows Containers: Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview now includes containers, which allow many isolated applications to run on one computer system. They build fast and are highly scalable and portable. Two different types of container runtime are included with the feature, each with a different degree of application isolation. Windows Server Containers achieve isolation through namespace and process isolation. Hyper-V Containers encapsulates each container in a light weight virtual machine. For some additional information on containers, see Containers: Docker, Windows and Trends.

What’s New in Failover Clustering in Windows Server Technical Preview. This topic explains the new and changed functionality of Failover Clustering. A Hyper-V or Scale-out File Server failover cluster can now easily be upgraded without any downtime or need to build a new cluster with nodes that are running Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview.

Windows Defender Overview for Windows Server Technical Preview. Windows Server Antimalware is installed and enabled by default in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview, but the user interface for Windows Server Antimalware is not installed. However, Windows Server Antimalware will update antimalware definitions and protect the computer without the user interface. If you need the user interface for Windows Server Antimalware, you can install it after the operating system installation by using the Add Roles and Features Wizard.

What’s New in Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2016. For the Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview, the Remote Desktop Services team focused on improvements based on customer requests. We added support for OpenGL and OpenCL applications, and added MultiPoint Services as a new role in Windows Server.

What’s New in File and Storage Services in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview. This topic explains the new and changed functionality of Storage Services. An update in storage quality of service now enables you to create storage QoS policies on a Scale-Out File Server and assign them to one or more virtual disks on Hyper-V virtual machines. Storage Replica is a new feature that enables synchronous replication between servers for disaster recovery, as well as stretching of a failover cluster for high availability..

What’s New in Web Application Proxy in Windows Server Technical Preview. The latest version of Web Application Proxy focuses on new features that enable publishing and preauthentication for more applications and improved user experience. Check out the full list of new features that includes preauthentication for rich client apps such as Exchange ActiveSync and wildcard domains for easier publishing of SharePoint apps.

The new console functionality is enabled by default. If an existing application doesn’t work properly with the new console, you can select Use legacy console on the Options tab and then restart your application. You can also control individual aspects of the new functionality with registry keys; see details at the linked topics.

Console windows can be resized dynamically with the mouse. This could cause issues with some console applications.

Quick Edit mode is enabled by default. If this conflicts with your application, you can disable it on the Options tab.

There are new keyboard shortcuts for copy, paste, and history navigation. If these conflict with your application, you can disable them on the Options tab (look for Enable CTRL key shortcuts and Extended test selection keys).

The default font type for new console windows is TrueType. You can still use raster fonts, but they won’t scale properly on some displays.

Text wraps and reflows by default when you resize a window. If necessary, you can disable this on the Layouts tab.

In some cases, after upgrade installation, fonts in the console window might be very small. To adjust this, use the Fonts tab.

What’s New in Windows PowerShell 5.0. Windows PowerShell 5.0 includes significant new features—including support for developing with classes, and new security features—that extend its use, improve its usability, and allow you to control and manage Windows-based environments more easily and comprehensively. Multiple new features in Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) are also described in this topic.

What’s New in Networking in Windows Server Technical Preview. The majority of what you’ll find for networking is new in TP3. We bring a scalable network controller for programming policies, an L4 load balancer for high availability and performance, enhanced gateways for hybrid connectivity, and an underlying network fabric that converges RDMA traffic together with tenant traffic, DNS policies that control how your DNS servers respond to incoming requests, and better integration of DNS and IPAM.